RÁN — MORGAN MAASSEN & FREDDIE MEADOWS HUNT WAVES IN SCANDINAVIA

WORLD-RENOWNED SURF CINEMATOGRAPHER MORGAN MAASSEN HAS RELEASED "RÁN — A SCANDINAVIAN SURFING SAGA," A 17-MINUTE COLLABORATION WITH SWEDISH SURFER FREDDIE MEADOWS THAT TAKES THE VIEWER DEEP INTO THE BALTIC SEA AND THE NORTH SEA IN SEARCH OF WAVES NOBODY THINKS TO LOOK FOR.

MAASSEN, KNOWN FOR HIS WORK WITH JOHN JOHN FLORENCE, STEPHANIE GILMORE, AND THE VOLCOM PIPE PRO, ADMITS HE WAS A SKEPTIC. "UPON MEETING FREDDIE IN THE SUMMER OF 2022, I IMMEDIATELY CAST MY DOUBT OF SURFING IN THE BALTIC SEA," HE WROTE. "SWEDEN WAS BOTH A PLACE I NEVER THOUGHT I'D VISIT, NOR WOULD EVER ASPIRE TO FIND WAVES — BUT THROUGH THE CHARM OF FREDDIE AND MY INSATIABLE CURIOSITY, I COULDN'T RESIST A SIMPLE VISIT."

THE FILM FOLLOWS THE PAIR ALONG THE SWEDISH COASTLINE — WITH A FEW SOJOURNS TO THE NORTH SEA — THROUGH SNOWSTORMS, FLAT SPELLS, AND ONE-HOUR SWELL WINDOWS. ON ONE DAY THEY MANAGE TO FIND A BEAST RIVALING ANY OF THE WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS BARRELS — A WAVE HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT IN A PLACE FEW SURFERS HAVE EVER CONSIDERED.

"THE WAVES WE FOUND, WHILE OFTEN FLEETING, POSED CHALLENGES THAT TOOK MY BREATH AWAY," MAASSEN WROTE. "ANYTHING FROM SNOW STORMS TO ONE-HOUR SWELL WINDOWS KEPT US ON OUR TOES, AND AS FREDDIE SHOWED ME THE LANDSCAPE OF HIS HOME, I IN TURN LEARNED JUST HOW PASSIONATE AND EXTREME THESE SURFERS ARE."

VIDEO: MORGAN MAASSEN / YOUTUBE